I nod and he angles his head.
“Were you at the game too?” he asks.
“Yes.” I glance around at all the girls vying for his attention. “Am I keeping you from your fucking?”
Taking me by surprise, his face goes hard, the blue in his eyes deepening as he backs me up into the long hallway and pushes me against the wall. “What do you know about fucking, Maize?”
12
Maize
I stand there staring at Christian, my gaze moving over the tightness in his jaw, as well as the fierceness in his eyes, as I try to process the question still lingering on his kissable lips.
He leans into me. “What do you know about fucking, Maize?” he growls into my ear, sending shivers of hot desire through my trembling body.
I swallow hard, and the sound gets drowned out in the rowdy crowd and for that, I’m grateful. But does it matter? I’m pretty sure the man who bought me a few weeks ago can feel the tension, the need emanating from my body as he hovers over me, his groin pressed against my body in a way that has shut down my ability to think with any sort of clarity. I might not be his regular type, but tonight, I think I’m going to be his everything. Or at least I hope so.
Is this really happening?
His head dips, his lips close to mine. “Answer me.”
“Christian…I.” What the hell do I say? I know nothing about fucking, other than how the moving parts fit together. I fumbled around in the dark with Ryan, for God’s sake, and took no pleasure in the actual messy, painful act of sex.
His fingers tighten on my shoulders, and the rough pads of his thumbs are sure to leave a bruise, but what frightens me most is how much I like it, how much I like when he holds me in place…holds me down hard, like he did that day I was injured. Dear God, I can’t even believe I’m admitting that to myself. Does that make me weak, feeble, a delicate little girl in need of a man’s care? I pride myself on being capable, strong—unbreakable.
But I don’t want to be any of those things right now. No, I want Christian to…break me. God, what am I saying? What am I admitting?
His gaze moves over my face, like he can see the internal struggle going on inside my brain, see exactly where my thoughts have strayed, and more importantly, exactly where they’ve settled. He nods, a slow movement of his head, like he’s coming to some hard-earned conclusion himself and I can’t help but think he too has been battling his own demons.
“Is this where we are, Maize?” I stare at him, and get what he’s asking. This has nothing to do with being in the Growler, nothing to do with our location in the hallway. This has everything to do with this tug between us, one we’re both clearly feeling. But what he’s really asking is, are we going to act on it?
Do we really have a choice? I don’t know about him, but if he doesn’t touch me soon, I’m going to melt into a puddle at his feet.
“Christian,” a high-pitched voice says from behind. “What are you doing in the hall? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Annoyance spills from the pretty girl’s lips as she grabs the back of his jacket and pulls. Without taking his eyes off me, he rolls his shoulder to shrug her off. An angry sound rises in her throat and she moves around him to glare at me with hate and disdain. I take in the scowl on her face, but my gaze is forced back to Christian’s, when he cups my chin and bluntly moves me.
“Is this where we are, Maize?”
I take a breath, try to fill my constricted lungs, and as I let it out, I say, “Yes.”
His pupils dilate even more, his pulse pounding at the base of his throat as he pulls me from the wall. “Home. Now.”
Before I know what’s happening, he has my hand and is tugging me through the crowd, his stride a bit slower than normal, and I chalk that up to my injured foot. I scan the bar and catch Kaitlyn smirking at me. She gives a little finger wave and a nod of approval as he drags me outside, the cooler night air falling around us.
Without a word, he takes off his team jacket, drapes it over my shoulders and